Sumas Prairie and the nearby foothills along the open Canada - U.S. border were the scene of an aggressive manhunt Tuesday morning after American border guards spotted two men in the Columbia Valley area at about 9 a.m. Vye Road at Marion was closed to traffic as police searched for the second man.John Van Putten
/ Times

Jeffrey Laviolette was arrested south of the Sumas border crossing on April 2, 2013 and faces ecstasy smuggling charges.Handout
/ *

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METRO VANCOUVER — A Fraser Valley man suspected of shooting at U.S. Border Patrol agents was arrested in Abbotsford early Wednesday while his B.C. associate is already facing ecstasy smuggling charges after being picked up south of the border Tuesday.

Nathan John Hall was taken into custody at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday at an Abbotsford residence, according to U.S. Court documents that allege he and Jeffrey Laviolette smuggled 58.5 pounds of ecstasy into the U.S. Tuesday morning.

Abbotsford police held a news conference Wednesday to say they had arrested the shooting suspect, but did not release his name or indicate what charges he might face.

However, the U.S. documents say “the suspect that fired at agents was later located at an apartment in Canada and identified as Nathan Hall, a Canadian citizen.”

Hall has a lengthy record in Canada, according to the court database.

He was arrested at the apartment of a woman named Mandy Burton, who is Laviolette’s girlfriend according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday.

The complaint says Hall and Laviolette were spotted in camouflage “wearing backpacks, walking southbound from the direction of Canada through a forest area known to be used by individuals smuggling contraband between the United States and Canada.”

Border agents asked both men to stop.

“In response, one of the suspects dropped his backpack and fired a weapon at the agents,” the documents say.

Hall made it back to Canada, while Laviolette was arrested in Washington and was carrying a walkie-talkie.

Laviolette “admitted to crossing the border from Canada to smuggle ecstasy into the United States.”

Both B.C. men were allegedly to be picked up by Kali Marie Henifin, who is charged along with her boyfriend Ryan Lambert.

Henifin told police that she and Lambert were “supposed to pick up Hall and Laviolette earlier that day.”

But they had been listening to a police scanner and learned of the shooting so “left the area.”

She admitted to picking up the same B.C. men in mid-March and knowing they were likely involved in drug smuggling.

Lambert said he was promised $11,000 to drive the ecstasy from the U.S. border to San Francisco.

The arrests followed a dramatic cross-border manhunt for the shooter that involved police, dogs and helicopters on both sides of the border.

Abbotsford police Const. Ian MacDonald said in a news release that “the suspect involved in the April 2nd shooting incident with U.S. Border Patrol agents was arrested by members of the Abbotsford Police Department’s Emergency Response Team and Patrol Division.

“He is an individual who is known to police and has been a resident of the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland in recent years.”

The U.S. is expected to request Hall’s extradition.

Law enforcement leaders in B.C. and Washington were praised for their cooperation in the case.

“I would like to thank our law enforcement partners both locally and in Canada who assisted during the search,” U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Section Chief John Bates said in a release. “This incident is a perfect example of the bi-national law enforcement partnerships, dedication and support required on a daily basis in securing our nation’s borders and local communities.”

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